Part 1

"I am sorry Mr. Juneja, we couldn't save your sister and her husband. They had lost a high amount of blood and it was nearly impossible for us to do something though we did try our best. But the good news is that your niece is alright She has some scratches in her arm and a not so deep cut on her forehead but she will be alright in a week or two", the Dr. informed Prem Juneja, one of the most successful businessman in the country. Though he had his family and business in Canada and almost in all the parts of the globe, he preferred to stay here in India, particularly in Punjab.
The doctor's information shook him from inside. He left his office early today as his sister and her husband along with their 6 years old daughter were coming to him for the first time in these 7 years of her marriage.
You must be thinking why Prem's elder sister had not come to visit him for 7 years. Isn't that a long period of time? Well then let me tell you the whole story clearly.
Lalit Juneja whom today, all the big corporate houses and business tycoons of the world can recognize just by his mere name, was once a defeated man being a failure in the business world. The company which his father had given to him on his deathbed, was no longer his own as his partner cheated on him by revealing the details of the company to their rivals. He lost everything only except few savings of his own and the house which was on his son Prem's name.
So to try his luck and make more money he decided to shift abroad along with his family. However his mother never wanted to leave the place where her husband's memories were. So they left her here in Punjab with the inspection of a care taker and along with his wife Gayatri Juneja, daughter Kulraj Juneja and son Prem Juneja, Lalit Juneja left the country. His dreams came true within a few years and he became one of the respectable businessmen of Canada. But in his crave for money he started ignoring his family, specially his kids.
On the other and Gayatri Juneja was always an ambitious lady. She held the heredity of a royal family. Lalit and her marriage were arranged by her father and she couldn't do anything. But she never liked Lalit's small house and his life style. Gayatri Juneja always wanted a life like her mother...full of luxury, full of servants who could attend her whenever she needed and a rich social life where she could flaunt her wealth to the other rich ladies of the society. And after Lalit's huge loss in business things started to become worse. They had fight almost every day...sometimes in front of their children.
Prem was too young to understand but Kulraj...she had seen her parents fighting in the nastiest way two people could fight, but she always tried to keep her brother away from all this. Her brother was the one she loved the most. She tried to gain attention of her parents by showing her excellent results in the exams or the many trophies that she had won in various competition but they seem unaffected. Not that she hated her parents but after sometimes she had understood that only her baby brother was there for her. So she spent most of the times with her grandmother and her brother. But her father's decision of leaving the country really shattered her.
Life in Canada was never the same as in India. She and her brother were sent to boarding school for better studying. Kulraj was always a very bright student so she didn't find it difficult to cope up with the studies there but what she missed most was her family. She was by then 13.
However things were different for Prem. He was 7 when his family moved to Canada. From the very first he was close to his sister. He never remembered spending some family time with his parents. When Kulraj was sent to boarding he passed most of his time with his study and the nanny who used to look after him. But whenever he had seen any other child with his parents, the loneliness engulfed him. He used to miss his mother's lap whenever he got scared at night or his father's supporting hands whenever he fell from the bicycle. After some 3 years he was sent to boarding too and he kind of adjusted there.

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Prem closed his eyes and sat on the bedside chair beside Tanu. This little soul who couldn't even know properly what a family was, had been snatched from her family. Prem sighed and caressed her forehead with love and care. It was the first time that he was seeing his little niece...his Kul di's daughter. "So like her!" he thought and smiled.
His chain of thoughts was broken by his friend and business partner Manmeet.
"You haven't eaten anything from the time you heard the news...eat something", he suggested.
"No yaar, khane ka man nahi hai. Main yahin thik hun", replied Prem feeling really tired at the happenings from the morning.
"Alright at least go home and take some rest...she is sleeping now. Besides, the stuff said they will not release the bodies till tomorrow", Manmeet reasoned.
"No", denied Prem. "I want to stay here, you go home. If I need anything I will call you".
"Are you sure?" Manmeet asked for a final time.
"Of course", Prem gave a weak smile and wished him good night.
Next Day Morning-

"How did you plan to break the news to her?" was the first sentence that Tanu heard when she slowly opened her eyes the next day morning. She looked around and tried to recognize the place in front of her eyes. "This is not her home; then what place is it?" the thought of an unknown surrounding scared her but what scared her more was the absence of her parents. She could see two young men and an old lady discussing something but whom she couldn't see was her parents.
"Where is mamma papa?" she asked no one in particular.
The three heads immediately turned towards her seeing her awake. "Relax child, I will tell you where your parents are. But right now please lie down on the bed", the nurse tried to calm her down.
Though she wanted to see her parents but she felt too tired to get up. After putting her to sleep Prem and Manmeet went to do the last rituals of Prem's elder sister Kulraj Singh and her husband Kiran Singh. In the afternoon Tanu again panicked of not seeing her parents around her but the old nurse handled her. She not only told her that her parents were now with God and they would be living there but also made her understand that from that day onwards she (Tanu) had to live with her (mamu) maternal uncle.
What that little soul understood from the old nurse's explanation was not known to anyone but after that what everyone did notice was the quiet behavior of Tanu. Whenever anyone asked any question or tried to make any conversation with her she just shifted her gaze to her hands which had a pendant holding tightly and remained quiet.
It didn't go unnoticed by Prem. He himself tried to talk to her but she seemed unaffected. The doctor advised him to take her home...may be a homely atmosphere would bring her back to life. Prem nodded and registered that from then onwards a new soul would be living with him. Not that he would mind that...why would he mind? She was the daughter of her elder sister...a sister whom he loved the most, a sister whom he considered his only family. But the thing was that he has been a loner for a long time, may be for almost 17-18 years so he doesn't know how to live with others, especially with a 6 years old child.
The next day Prem and Manmeet took Tanu home, a home where Prem lived alone. No, practically not alone; his helper Manohar was there. The little soul entered the house like a zombie. She looked around and her gaze fixed at a sight. Not paying any attention to what the other 3 characters were talking about, she moved forward and stood in front of a Picture which had her mom in it....not only her mom but also that man called Prem Juneja about whom she had been told in the hospital that he was her maternal uncle or mama, was there with her mom in the picture.
Prem noticed it. He slowly stood beside her and touched her shoulder. "Tanu go with Manohar uncle, he will take you to your room. Go with him and take some rest, ok?"
Tanu looked at him and without saying anything tried to lift her small handbag. Manohar quickly took it and held her hands and led her to her new bedroom. Both Prem and Manmeet had understood by then it was not going to be easy....neither for them nor for Tanu.
Done with the first chapter. Do read and share your precious views. And if you liked it then don't forget share your feedback. Next part will be posted soon. Till then take care and bye.
Thank You,
Love,
Sunayana